Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to winders in general and to guards to increase the safety of threading or splicing a broken web in particular.
Papermaking is a continuous process which can be stopped and started only at considerable expense in time and material which must be recycled. Paper on the other hand is used in rolls often referred to as offsets. As paper is manufactured, it is wound onto a single large roll, sometimes referred to as a jumbo roll. The jumbo roll extends the full width of the papermaking machine, which can be 300 or 400 inches, and can be six to ten or more feet in diameter. These larger rolls are broken down into the smaller rolls used by the printing industry, on a machine referred to as a winder. Large moving rolls of any type have certain inherent dangers, particularly where one roll rides against another to form a nip. An operator""s hand can be caught in such a nip drawing the operator into the nip with highly undesirable consequences.
To avoid such hazards, the winding of paper into offset rolls is typically effected automatically or semiautomatically by machinery which usually does not require the operator""s presence immediately adjacent to the moving rolls which form the winder. However, if a paper break occurs during the winding process, an operator is necessary to remedy the break. Repairing an offset reel of paper involves cutting or slabbing off the outer layers of loosely wound paper, taping a new start to a clean tail formed by the slabbing off process, and restarting the winding process. During the repair of a paper break the operator is working on the paper roll itself and is thus in a position near where the forming paper roll and a winder drum of the winder form a nip. The nip is rendered more hazardous by the fact that the winder drum has an aggressive high friction surface to better engage and cause the paper roll to rotate. This aggressive surface can make it difficult to withdraw an extremity once it enters the nip formed between the winder drum and the offset roll.
What is needed is a system which creates a physical barrier between the nip and the operator to provide an additional margin of safety.
The winder of this invention has two spaced apart winder drums which support a paper roll. A paper web from a parent roll partially wraps the upstream winder drum and then wraps a roll core to form the paper roll. Both winder drums are driven to cause the paper roll to rotate. The downstream winder drum rotates about a drum axis on drum bearings. A guard is mounted for rotation about the downstream winder drum axis. The guard has two radially extending sector shaped flanges which are spaced inwardly of the drum bearings and to which is mounted a substantially cylindrical shell which forms the body of the guard. Each radially extending flange has a bearing ring, and extends beyond the cylindrical shell. The cylindrical shell has a D-shaped leading edge which approaches the paper roll, the leading edge is articulated so that if the operator""s hand becomes wedged between the leading edge and the paper roll articulation on the leading-edge closes the switch which brings the winder to a stop. A hydraulic actuator extends between a lowermost radial edge of each sector shaped extension, and a fixed support. Operation of the hydraulic actuator causes the guard to rotate about the axis of the downstream winder drum so as to be between an operator and the downstream side of the winder drum. The leading edge of the the guard is positioned to limit operator access to the nip formed between the paper roll and the downstream winder drum.
Spring loaded disk brakes are positioned to brake upon lower portions of the sector shaped extensions. The brakes can be opened by a hydraulic mechanism but are failsafe in the spring loaded braking configuration. Movement of the guard is controlled from the operator""s control booth, or from dual switches positioned on either side of the winder and spaced sufficiently far from the winder so that the operator cannot come in contact with the winder while controlling the position of the guard. A light curtain is positioned so that the operator""s hands passes through the light curtain to contact the paper roll. So long as the operator""s hands are passing through the light curtain movement of the guard is inhibited. A long linear switch is positioned on the long leg of the a sector shaped member adjacent the blunt leading edge. Actuation of the linear switch causes all motion of the downstream winder drum and the paper roll to stop. The guard""s leading edge is positioned approximately 12 to 14 inches from the nip formed between the driven downstream winder drum and the paper roll, after the paper roll reaches a selected diameter.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a winder with a movable guard to increase operator safety while performing a splice.
It is a further feature of the present invention to provide a winder with a movable guard which prevents the operator from coming in contact with a nip formed between the downstream winder drum and the paper roll.
It is another feature of the present invention to provide a winder with a movable guard which supports a work area for preparing a paper splice.
It is a yet further feature of the present invention to provide a winder with a movable guard capable of incorporating a core loader.
It is a still further feature of the present invention to provide a winder with a movable guard which can support a bridge for the removal of a wound paper roll.